


Eleven

by boyscrytoo



Category: Tiny Meat Gang (Band)
Genre: Friends to Lovers, M/M, drug mention, weed use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:21:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22342504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boyscrytoo/pseuds/boyscrytoo
Summary: “I just haven’t been into any girls lately.” Noel explains simply, feeling hot under Cody’s stare. “Been distracted, I guess.”Noel‘s tongue feels too big in his mouth all of a sudden. He pictures their lips crashing together and looks away, fearing that eye contact would turn Cody into a mind reader.The music is playing softly in the background and Noel’s spinning. Cody’s still leaning into him and his lack of a response makes this feel like a fever dream, like he’s waiting for Noel to give him his next line.“What have you been distracted by?” Cody asks, going off script and sending Noel into a tizzy. Noel meets Cody’s eyes and they’re dark and something is there. Noel’s stomach lurches and his words are ripped from his throat without second thought.“You.”
Relationships: Cody Ko/Noel Miller
Comments: 7
Kudos: 238





	Eleven

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfiction was based on Khalid’s new song “Eleven”. I always listen to it slowed down and encourage you to do the same to catch the vibe. 
> 
> https://youtu.be/qoAS_Wc2Brw
> 
> Thanks for all the love on my previous fic, hope you enjoy this one as well x

Noel picks up on the fifth ring so he doesn’t seem too eager.

Cody’s voice is soft when he finally speaks. “I didn’t wake you up, did I?”

Noel’s sits straighter in his desk chair, and clears his throat before shaking his head involuntarily, “Nah man, I was just smoking and messing around with beats, what’s up?”

“Can you come get me? I can’t sleep and I thought maybe we could drive around or something.”

Noel’s walking out of his bedroom before Cody finishes his sentence, pressing the phone to his shoulder while he pulls on his shoes. “Of course, man, I’ll be there soon.”

He’s almost out of the apartment before he turns on his heels and retreats to the bedroom, where he grabs the bag of weed left discarded on his desk, stuffing it into his sweatshirt pocket before locking the front door behind him.

He pulls up to Cody’s apartment building and parks near the entrance before texting Cody to come downstairs. He subconsciously glances towards the rear view mirror, analyzing his appearance and running his hands through his undone curls, trying to look somewhat put together so Cody didn’t give him shit. He gives up and pulls his hood up to hide his hair when he notices Cody coming down the stairs.

Cody unceremoniously throws himself into the car and fastens his seatbelt, still not having said a word to Noel.

Noel watches Cody, who is dressed in a TMG sweatshirt and gray sweatpants, thick-rimmed glasses framing his face. Noel feels better about his disheveled appearance, and he knows that this is going to be another one of their chill nights.

Noel faces forward, his eyes avoiding Cody as he glides his hands over the steering wheel, suddenly overcome with the need to keep them occupied. He clears his throat before putting the car into reverse and pulling out of Cody’s apartment complex.

Cody’s hands are folded in his lap as he looks out the window at the neon lights that illuminate the bars they’re driving past. The silence between them isn’t uncomfortable necessarily, but it feels heavy to Noel.

He swallows and his throat feels dry as he speaks softly, “Everything okay, man? You haven’t said a word to me.”

Cody’s body is visibly tense, and Noel’s eyes glance to the pattern the streetlights create on Cody’s legs as they pass.

“I’m sorry, man. I’m just having a fucking rough night. You know when you feel like you have to cry? I feel like I want to sob every time I open my mouth. I just feel too much tonight.” Cody’s arms cross over his body, self-soothingly and Noel nods in solidarity.

“I get it, man. It’s okay, we’re just going to chill, hang out, and we can talk about it. You can even cry if you want to.” Noel turns into a gas station and pulls up to the pump before throwing a cheeky grin at Cody, hoping to comfort his friend and lighten the mood.

Cody smiles, yet doesn’t look at Noel, clearly somewhere far away in his mind. Noel makes a mental note to cool it with the jokes tonight and gets out of the car, pulling out his wallet as he pushes a button on the gas pump.

He fills his gas tank up and walks away from the car, glancing back at Cody, still in the passenger seat, before entering the gas station. He peruses the aisles, looking for something to cheer Cody up. He grabs a pink lemonade for Cody and a mango Arizona for himself before the weed he smoked earlier beckons him to the snacks. He approaches the counter with his arms full of their drinks and 5 different kinds of candy, biting the inside of his cheek when he asks for a couple packs of Swishers. He’s focused on trying to not seem high, but he can’t look the cashier in the eye when he hands him his change.

He lets out a breath when he steps outside, gripping the bag as he gets back in the car, startling Cody. His eyes light up when he notices what Noel has in his hands, and he grabs the bag from him like a kid on Christmas. He pulls out a pack of Twizzlers first, his favorite, and rips it open before pulling one out and offering it to Noel, his eyes surveying the rest of the candy in the bag .

Noel leans forward and bites it out of Cody’s hand, letting it hang from his mouth, before starting the car and pulling out onto the exit.

They haven’t even gotten to the highway when Cody’s rooting around in the plastic bag and pulls out the Swishers before turning his head to look at Noel for the first time that night. “Oh, are you smoking more?”

Noel nods and grabs another Twizzler from the mangled bag in Cody’s lap, biting it off and chewing slowly. “You can have some too man. Might help.” Noel answers simply, not wanting to make Cody feel weird.

Cody turns the Swishers packet over in his hand as he reads the packaging. “I think I’ll take you up on that.” Noel turns his head to look at him and smiles when Cody finally meets his eyes.

Noel drives them down the Pacific Coast Highway and gets close to his steering wheel as his eyes scan around, looking for anything that would alert him that he’s going the right way. He’s only ever been to this spot once before, with Spock, when they did MDMA at a beach bonfire and wandered too far away from the party. Finally, he spots the dilapidated, tourist-trap souvenir shop and briefly recalls Spock trying to climb to the roof that night. Noel turns the car onto the cracked concrete lot beside it and parks facing the ocean before turning the headlights off.

Noel unbuckles the seatbelt and shifts in his seat, relaxing his body before looking through the windshield at the ocean. The moon reflected brightly on the water, prompting Noel to open his window and pop his head out to look up at the night sky, elated to see it with less light pollution than he had seen in months.

Cody’s chewing on the last of the Twizzlers when Noel pulls the bag of weed out of his center console, reaching over to grab the Swishers, ripping the package open with his teeth and pulling out the cigar before carefully beginning to split it down the middle. He opens the driver’s side door and leans out, pouring the tobacco out onto the concrete before sitting back up and repeating the process for the second cigar.

He carefully fills the first cigar and rolls it between his fingers, bringing it to his mouth, and uses his lips to carefully press the edges together. Cody perks up at the sight, and Noel diverts his attention over to him, before holding the blunt up and grinning, “Voila.”

“I want to try.” Cody mutters, taking the second blunt from Noel’s lap. “You’ll have to teach me, it’s been a while since I’ve done this.”

Cody reaches over again and snatches the bag of weed from Noel’s lap, unintentionally brushing over his thigh as he returns to his original position in the passenger seat.

Cody puts everything on the dashboard in front of him, leaning forward with intense focus. He fills and rolls the blunt more expertly than Noel expected, and Noel teases him about being the pothead frat boy, which elicits no reaction from Cody. Noel’s giggles ring out, and he starts into a bit about Cody’s frat boy persona, subconsciously trailing off as he watches Cody’s mouth press down the edge of the blunt wrap, his fingers working quickly to seal it as well as Noel had.

Noel takes a sip of his drink and rolls Cody’s window down and shuts the car off. Noel lights the first blunt and brings it to his lips, taking a deep inhale before closing his eyes and exhaling slowly, feeling the familiar burn in his chest. They pass it back and forth, silent again, and the thick smoke swirls in the air between them.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Noel asks vaguely, staring straight ahead at the waves before them. He sees Cody wring his hands out of the corner of his eye, and Noel breaks his stare to look over at him as he passes the blunt.

Cody takes a long, deep hit before his body finally relaxes, slumping back into the seat. “I don’t know,” he starts, exhaling smoke out of the window, “I wasn’t joking when I said I feel like crying every time I open my mouth.”

“You can cry, dude. I’m not going to say shit.”

Cody chuckles dryly, and takes another hit before passing it back to Noel. “That’s not the issue.”

“What is the issue, then?” Noel finds himself becoming defensive, and softens his tone once Cody snaps his head towards him. “I care about you, I’m not going to judge you for whatever you’re feeling.”

Cody shakes his head and turns back to face the passenger door, his body language closed off to Noel. “I’m going to have to be more high if we’re going to get into this.”

Noel chuckles, his voice unusually gentle when he speaks, “Well, we have more weed and I got nothing but time.”

Cody doesn’t move or say anything, and Noel notices his lip quivering and feels a pang in his chest. “When you’re ready to talk, I’m ready to listen. Whatever it is. Always.” Cody nods and keeps his eyes trained forward as tears spill out, falling down his cheeks. Noel ashes the blunt and drops it into a half-empty water bottle he found on the floor of the car before settling back into his seat.

20 minutes pass in complete silence when Cody finally speaks, voice deepened from the smoking, but clearer now, and he’s still turned away from Noel. “I’m having a fucking identity crisis,” he starts, and he’s doing his deflection voice, talking quickly and trying to seem very casual. “This guy that works at that new coffee place by my apartment always flirts with me, and he asked me for my number and I gave it to him, right? So we’re texting for a couple of weeks and he asks me to go on a date tonight and then he fucking stood me up.” He rambles on, laughing dryly.

“It was super embarrassing and I’ve been feeling like shit about it all night and I didn’t want to tell you because I don’t think I ever told you I was into guys in the first place and I didn’t want to seem like a bitch crying over this random guy I’ve known for 2 weeks. So, yeah, that’s pretty much it. Can you believe this shit, dude?” He tries to play the whole thing off, and Noel knows Cody’s vulnerable underneath it.

Noel blinks and clears his throat before moving to sit up straight. Unfortunately, Cody decided to have this conversation at the precise moment Noel realized he was very high. He tried his best to focus intently on Cody, not wanting him to get insecure and retreat back into his silence after Noel’s been trying to coax an answer out of him all night.

“Okay,” Noel starts, wetting his lips before continuing, “what can I do as your friend?”

“I don’t think talking about is what I want to do right now, honestly. I said it and it’s out there and I want to leave it at that for tonight.” Cody runs his hands through his hair and changes the subject. “Are you high already? I’m not feeling anything.” Noel nods, and his eyes follow Cody’s hand. Cody groans in frustration, “I need more then. I want to be high out of my mind.”

Noel laughs and hands Cody the lighter they’d been using. Cody takes the blunt he rolled from the dashboard and lights it before touching it to his lips and taking a deep inhale.

“I want to lay down.” Noel admits, looking over at Cody who was flicking the lighter absentmindedly and watching the ocean.

Cody laughs loudly as his attention is turned to Noel, who is clamoring over the center console to climb into the back seat. He sits behind the drivers side and settles in, beaming at Cody before leaning his head back on the headrest, letting out an obnoxious moan as he stretches his legs.

“Now I’m up here alone, what the hell kind of friend are you, Noel?” Cody taunts, the smile on his face contrasting his eyes, now red from the weed and puffy from crying.

Noel beams as he goes to take another sip of his drink and completely misses, sending the mango tea down the sides of his mouth and onto his sweatshirt. “Look what you made me fucking do, Cody!” He half-yells, gesturing to the stain before they both burst into a fit of laughter.

Cody’s still laughing as he turns his body and rises to his knees on the seat, facing toward Noel in the back. “I’m fucking coming back there to fight you, see how tough you are then.” And he clumsily follows Noel’s earlier path over the center console and lands awkwardly in the backseat. He rests his back against the door and throws his legs over Noel’s lap, fully sitting across the entire back seat. They’re both still caught up in a fit of laughter and too high to recognize the sudden closeness.

They’re at the peak of the high and their bodies are facing each other, with Cody’s legs still across Noel’s lap. Noel’s arm is draped along the top of the seat, inches from where Cody’s head rests. Cody’s speaking in a hushed tone as though they’re not the only two people around, which makes Noel feel special in a way, like whatever Cody’s saying is only meant for him to hear.

“I’m so happy you’re my friend, Noel.” Cody speaks softly, his tone slowing as his eyes roll closed.

“Man, you’re faded.” Noel laughs and Cody smiles with his eyes still shut.

“No dude, listen,” Cody mutters, “I haven’t been this high since college. I want to take my clothes off and swim in the ocean.”

Noel grins at how absolutely fried Cody is and reminisces on a time in his life where weed affected him the same way. His tolerance is much higher these days. He reaches forward without disrupting Cody’s legs on his lap, and grabs the half of the blunt Cody didn’t finish from the console. “It’s cold as fuck, man. You don’t want that, your dick is going to shrivel up inside your body.”

“Yeah you’re right,” Cody’s head sways as he talks, and he’s grinning. “I don’t want you to see my dick like that.”

Noel feels a heat rise to his cheeks and he looks out the window like Cody could somehow see the tint on his face through the dark. His brain starts whirring as Cody shifts to a more comfortable position, his calves pressing against Noel’s lap.

Cody doesn’t seem to be affected as he leans back to pull his phone out of his pocket, opening Spotify and choosing one of his playlists. A slow song Noel’s never heard before plays at a low volume, and Cody sets the phone down on the console and lets out a sigh.

“Thanks for picking me up tonight. I was having such a shitty night and I’m sorry I wasn’t being cool earlier. You always know how to make me feel better.” Cody rambles, genuinely, “You’re such a great guy, Noel.”

The blood rushes out of Noel’s head as he turns back to see Cody smiling softly at him, and his chest aches.

“Can I have some of your drink?” Cody says, almost shyly. Noel nods and hands it to him, watching intently as Cody brings it to his mouth and takes a drink. His eyes land on the exposed skin of Cody’s throat, and Noel swallows.

“It’s almost like we’re kissing,” Cody says.

Noel’s ears are ringing and his eyes bore into Cody’s, neither one of them offering up any kind of immediate expansion on what was just said. Noel has a sinking feeling in his stomach and a thousand thoughts bouncing around in his head. He wants to say nothing. He wants to say everything. The thought makes him want to sharpen his tongue and go off on Cody for turning him soft.

Who else could’ve pulled him away from the comfort of his home at 11 pm on a Thursday night? Who else could’ve make him lose his cool? Who else could’ve ignited a fire inside his chest like this?

Cody takes another sip of the drink and pulls his mouth away from the bottle and licks his lips, holding Noel’s gaze.

“Yeah,” Noel breathes out, “almost”.

With that, Cody then pulls his legs off of Noel’s lap and back to the floor and sits upright, leaning forward towards him. Noel’s shoulders are tensed up, and Cody just studies him, leaning so close that Noel can smell his shampoo, and it makes him feel lightheaded.

“Why aren’t you going on dates anymore, Noel? I don’t think I’ve seen you with a girl in months.” Cody questions, voice layered with something new. Noel looks at him dumbly, still fucking reeling from this whole interaction.

“I just haven’t been into any girls lately.” Noel explains simply, feeling hot under Cody’s stare. “Been distracted, I guess.”

Noel‘s tongue feels too big in his mouth all of a sudden. He pictures their lips crashing together and looks away, fearing that eye contact would turn Cody into a mind reader.

The music is playing softly in the background and Noel’s spinning. Cody’s still leaning into him and his lack of a response makes this feel like a fever dream, like he’s waiting for Noel to give him his next line.

“What have you been distracted by?” Cody asks, going off script and sending Noel into a tizzy. Noel meets Cody’s eyes and they’re dark and something is there. Noel’s stomach lurches and his words are ripped from his throat without second thought.

“You.”

Noel counts the seconds of no response.

There’s a heavy drum kit in the song playing in the background when Cody closes the gap between them and presses his lips to Noel’s. Cody pulls away after Noel sits stunned for a moment, finding himself momentarily unable to react. The pounding of the choppy beat harmonizes with the blood hammering in Noel’s ears.

Cody reaches up and strokes Noel’s cheek and it snaps him out of his trance. Noel crashes their lips together for a second time.

_If I’m the only one..._

Cody deepens their kiss and Noel feels a different type of high.

_Am I your favorite drug..._

Cody’s moving and then he’s pressed against him and Noel’s dizzy. They’re still kissing and Cody’s hands are holding Noel’s face, Noel’s hands finding their way under Cody’s sweatshirt to touch his back gently. Cody’s like porcelain to him.

Cody breaks their kiss first and Noel’s lips feel tingly, numb. He’s overwhelmed by the weed, the song, the kissing, Cody, and he closes his eyes and leans his head against the window. Neither of them have spoken, Noel can hear Cody breathing hard and he wonders what’s going through his mind.

He hopes Cody kissed him because he wanted to, not just as a rebound. Noel’s breathing is ragged and his mind is scrambling trying to remember every single detail about this moment. His heart is swelling inside his chest and he feels nervous and excited, like he’s back in high school. _If this is what a kiss could do,_ he thinks, _just imagine._ The thought is too much so he pushes it aside for later.

Eyes still closed, head pressed to the window, his tone is soft when he breathes out just above a whisper, “You drive me crazy.”

Cody starts to respond when headlights shine into the car, forcing Noel’s eyes open. “Oh shit,” he starts, as he registers red and blue lights switch on.

The car pulls next to them and the officer gets out and walks up to Noel’s window, tapping gently, indicating for Noel to roll it down.

Noel smiles sheepishly as he rolls down the window, a flashlight immediately shines in his eyes.

“Good morning, boys,” The officer starts as he moves the flashlight to flash over Cody’s face, then over both of their laps, “what are we doing all the way out here at this time of night?”

Noel laughs awkwardly and squints his eyes as the officer shines the flashlight at him again. “Listening to music, officer, we were just getting ready to head home.”

The officer seems satisfied with the answer and points his flashlight down once he sees no public indecency going on. “Alright then boys, get home safe now.” He warns, tapping the car twice and walking back to his vehicle.

They wait until the cop pulls away before they burst into a fit of laughter. They immediately start clowning around about the interaction, how the officer didn’t notice they were fried out of their minds. They both reach for their doors and step out from the backseat into the cool air. Noel raises his arms above his head and stretches and turns to Cody with a smile on his face.

“Nothing like talking to a cop to sober you up.” Cody laughs loudly and pulls the door open, throwing himself down into the passenger side. Noel shakes his head and sits in the driver’s seat and starts the car.

They drive back to Santa Monica in silence, Cody’s leaning against the door, probably sleeping, and Noel’s overthinking. The streets are full of bar patrons frantically calling Ubers and smoking cigarettes and the neon signs are turned off for the night.

Noel’s intoxicated in more ways than one. He keeps replaying Cody’s tongue slipping into his mouth and the taste of mango and he wonders if they’ll ever talk about it. Cody shifts in his seat as they slow to a stop at the intersection. Noel gets a sudden wave of that nervousness again and he feels holes burning into the side of his face. His nerves are on fire when Cody reaches over and holds his hand.

Noel turns his head and is met with Cody’s eyes, fixed on him, saying everything he’d hoped they would. Cody gives him a sleepy smile and brushes his thumb over Noel’s knuckles, “can I crash at your place tonight? I don’t want to stop hanging out.” He says, innocently enough, but Noel’s throat feels tight anyway.

Noel drives them back to his apartment, and Cody doesn’t let go of his hand until they’re parked. Noel’s trying not to read too far into everything, he’s trying to remind himself that Cody’s just high and lonely. He won’t let himself make this real.

Cody will make it real, though, and he does, when they’re upstairs in Noel’s apartment.

Cody’s yawning and Noel glad because he doesn’t know how much more of this he could handle tonight. He feels like he’s going to be consumed by the flames in his chest.

Cody marches sleepily into Noel’s bedroom, pulling Noel behind him by his wrist. Cody lays down in the bed as if it was his own, snuggling into the pillow and pulling the blanket over himself. Noel stands at the doorway where Cody left him, and clicks the door shut behind him. Cody’s facing away from him, and Noel thanks God Cody isn’t looking at him before he slides into bed next to him and pulls the covers up, laying flat on his back.

It makes him feels so juvenile that he is losing his shit like this. He closes his eyes and feels Cody turning, certainly now facing Noel and probably looking up at him through his eyelashes like he’s been doing all night.

Every one of Noel’s senses are amplified as he feels Cody press his body against his, wrapping his arms around Noel’s bicep.

“You smell so good.” Cody whispers and Noel’s paralyzed.

Cody pulls one of his arms away and reaches up to stroke Noel’s face. “Get out of your head, Noel. Be here with me.” Cody rests his hand on Noel’s cheek and turns his head towards him and when their eyes meet, he touches their lips together again.

Noel wraps his arm around Cody and gives into the feeling, pulling him as close as he can. Noel let his mind go blank to everything but Cody’s lips and Cody’s body, warm against him. He wouldn’t ever let Cody know how much he’s wanted this, and how now that it’s happening he doesn’t even fucking know how to act.

By the way Cody’s hand slides down his body and trails under his hoodie, caressing his stomach as they kiss, Noel knows that he doesn’t have to act right now. Cody moves his leg over Noel’s, and climbs onto him, their kiss is hot, all tongue and teeth and desperation.

Noel’s gripping Cody’s hips and Cody grinds down onto him as he moves to kiss the exposed skin of Noel’s neck and Noel lets out a soft groan.

“I’ve dreamt about this,” Noel whispers while stroking Cody’s hair as the younger boy continues leaving marks on his neck.

“Is it like what you thought?” Cody mutters as he moves to a different spot on his neck, sucking lightly.

Noel’s words come out as more of an exhale than anything else.

“Better.”


End file.
